A suspicious package addressed to Neil Lennon was intercepted at a Royal Mail sorting office. This unfortunate fall-out from Wednesday night's controversial Old Firm Scottish Cup fifth-round replay at Parkhead resulted in the Parkhead manager being accompanied to training by a security officer and his home being under 24-hour surveillance. Thankfully the package, which was intercepted at a sorting office in Saltcoats, turned out to be a hoax but not a funny one.
Chief executive Peter Lawwell said: "Clearly, this most recent sickening event in a long line of threats to Neil and his family is extremely worrying. This demonstrates the intensity and pressure which Neil endures as the Celtic manager. However, he has coped with these issues incredibly well during his short time as manager, showing what a strong character he is. Indeed, it is extremely sad that Neil has had to contend with such issues for more than a decade, both as a Celtic player and manager. No-one in any walk of life should have to live their life in this way and those responsible should be condemned. It goes without saying Neil and his family will continue to receive every support from the club. We know Neil will also have the full backing of all our fans as he and the club did on Wednesday evening. While these events are very concerning, we would ask that they continue to back the club in this positive Celtic manner. While the authorities and other commentators have taken a close interest in recent football events, we would hope they would give similar attention to also condemning such actions.''
Ahead of the today's home game with Hamilton, first-team coach Alan Thompson sat in for Lennon to meet the press at the regular pre-match press conference. Asked why Lennon was not available, Thompson said: "Neil had a lot on his plate in the last couple of days and he thought it was right to stand out the way for a day or two. He has had 24-hour surveillance outside his house two days in a row protecting him and his family and he thought it was right to step out of the way. I spend a lot of time with him at work and away from work and I know how difficult it is for his family in Scotland and in Ireland. He has been up here 11 years and he has had it from then until the present and will have it until he leaves. I think it is important that he gets the protection and backing that we give him.''
Thompson confirmed that Lennon had apologised to the Celtic board for his behaviour and had made up with McCoist immediately after Wednesday's game. Thompson said: "Neil apologised to the board regarding the events after the game on Wednesday night and the board have accepted that. As soon as Ally and Neil saw each other after the game there was a handshake and an apology from both. It was fantastic and they didn't just stay in there for two minutes after the game, the Rangers management were in there for a good 25, 30 minutes.''
For his part, Rangers chief executive Martin Bain claimed much of the tension around the cup replay was because two of his players had been subject to "extreme verbal abuse'' in the original tie at Ibrox which ended in a 2-2 draw. Thompson played down those claims, saying: "We can go back with counter-allegations but why should we? We are not going to bring ourselves to do that. These things happen week-in, week-out, it just so happens at the moment things are coming out.''
Hamilton's Billy Reid did not consider Wednesday night's game at Parkhead to be a classic but admitted he found it difficult to look away. Reid also admitted the cup tie was compelling viewing but not from a football point of view. He said: "I am not going to say it was entertaining, it would be wrong to say that. But there was so much happening you couldn't take your eyes off it at times. Is it a good thing? I don't see how that could be portrayed as a good thing. People are paying good money to see good football. There was a lot happening the other night but in terms of the game, both sets of players and fans will know it wasn't the best. But it was all about winning the game and Celtic deserved to do that."
A suspicious package addressed to Neil Lennon was intercepted at a Royal Mail sorting office. This unfortunate fall-out from Wednesday night's controversial Old Firm Scottish Cup fifth-round replay at Parkhead resulted in the Parkhead manager being accompanied to training by a security officer and his home being under 24-hour surveillance. Thankfully the package, which was intercepted at a sorting office in Saltcoats, turned out to be a hoax but not a funny one.